Slashing agriculture funding hurts specialty crops important to North Carolina | Opinion

Deep cuts in funding for agricultural research in the United States threaten our food supply and national security.

Every American family will ultimately feel the effects of cuts to agricultural research, which enables the U.S. to produce food that’s safe, healthy and affordable, and to support rural communities. To compete in a global marketplace and feed a growing world population, American farmers need continued investment in research and development.

As the U.S. slashes agricultural funding, which has dropped by about a third since 2002, China, the European Union, India and Brazil have done the opposite. China now invests $10 billion in agricultural research — twice as much as the U.S.

Federal funding from agencies currently facing tens of billions in cuts — the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health — drives agricultural research that supports U.S. food sovereignty: our ability to produce safe, affordable, nutritious and abundant food for our own population.

Federally funded research helps scientists develop healthier, higher-yielding crops that are more resistant to diseases, pests and weeds — and more resilient in the face of droughts, flooding and extreme temperatures. In addition, agricultural research develops more efficient and sustainable ways to raise livestock.

More than two-thirds of publicly funded agricultural research and development in the U.S. is federally funded. It supports work done across the nation through a network of experiment stations and research labs in the land-grant university system, with one or more universities in every state.

North Carolina’s land-grant universities, N.C. State and N.C. A&T, received the nation’s third-highest level of grant funding from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture from 2018 to 2023 — a total of $456.4 million. This essential funding supports agricultural research, the N.C. Cooperative Extension outreach that connects farmers statewide with science-backed guidance, and the education of the next generation of agricultural researchers.

Agriculture and agribusiness, the largest sector of North Carolina’s economy, generated $111 billion in economic impact in 2024, and it requires robust research. Food animal production in North Carolina accounts for about two-thirds of agriculture’s economic impact, with the remaining third coming from over 90 different crops.

Many crops grown in North Carolina are specialty crops like peanuts, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, strawberries, Christmas trees, ornamentals, turf and many more. Varieties optimized for North Carolina are developed by our land-grant universities, not the private sector.

Without federal funding, along with state matching funds that support crop breeding programs, many of these commodities would fail and producers would go out of business.

The historical return on investment from federal funding of agricultural research is clear: Every $1 spent has returned $20 for the U.S. economy.

For more than a century, a coalition of land-grant universities, government agencies, farmers and private companies have worked together to maintain U.S. leadership in agricultural innovation. Dismantling this system has long-term consequences. Once we lose our competitive edge and market share, it’s doubtful that we can ever regain lost ground.

Private industry cannot fill the federal funding gap in U.S. agricultural research; it requires a quicker return on investment and marketable results. Agricultural research takes time and stable investment over generations of crops or animals, which grow at their own pace.

If the U.S. steps back, China and other countries will shape the future through plant breeding that fits their climates, conditions and needs. Their food will become more affordable and nutritious, capturing U.S. export markets.

To remain competitive and feed our citizens with American-grown food, we must continue to invest in agricultural research — for our nation and North Carolina’s farmers, rural communities and families.

This story was originally published July 3, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Slashing agriculture funding hurts specialty crops important to North Carolina | Opinion."